the Haselgroves and others also helped. Geelong Grammar educated Ben Chaffey, who had grown up in Mildura, worked at the Mildura Winery and Distillery under the management of Ron Haselgrove and had also attended Roseworthy Agricultural College where he graduated in Agriculture (1935) and oenology (1939). After the war, a long stint working for The Emu Wine Company as a winemaker had rounded out his wine education. Meanwhile Colin Haselgrove went on to become managing director at Reynella in 1953. Although Chaffey’s business partner Ferguson was practical with machinery and helped install the winery with second-hand equipment, his heart wasn’t in it, and he was bought out. In 1951 a new partnership, Edwards and Chaffey, was formed with friend Henry Edwards, a grape grower whose property had been compulsorily acquired for Adelaide’s urban development in the Marion District. Business flourished with bulk wine trade to the Emu Wine Company, Mildura Winery, Yalumba, Orlando, Lindemans and Penfolds. Edwards and Chaffey also launched the Seaview label in 1951, offering ‘all types’ of wines. The business was selling 50,000 gallons of red wine to Melbourne alone in the early 1950s, and Seaview became initially best known for its White Burgundy and Riesling. Seaview wines were also the first to be winery-bottled in McLaren Vale. Ben Chaffey recalled “it was quite a technical chore; I can tell you!” By 1954 success at wine shows and increasing demand enabled larger botting facilities. Meanwhile, adjacent land was acquired and with Government assistance, Edwards and Chaffey contour-planted new vineyards with red varieties Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz and Malbec and white varieties Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc and Palomino. Ben Chaffey observed that during his years as a winemaker, “the biggest change was in the public acceptance of wine as an adjunct to dining and more than just something you take frivolously.” But in 1970, Ben Chaffey, now the sole owner of the business, sold out to Allied Vintners (a 51%/49% partnership between Allied Breweries UK and Tooths Brewery of Sydney). This foreshadowed other takeovers and mergers during the 1970s, including the Acquisition of Wynn’s. As the economy geared up many agricultural regions began to mechanise. Frank Osborn of Bundarra Vineyards, later d’Arenberg,
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The Vintage Journal – Regional Focus
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